Every day, boatloads of refugees arrive on Italian shores.
European Union law requires Italy to fingerprint them, so that if they apply for asylum in another country they can be sent back to their port of entry. Instead, Italy is helping thousands of undocumented migrants slip quietly into northern Europe, with no record of their time in Italy.
(AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Posted: Friday, July 4, 2014 11:27 am
|
Updated:
11:45 pm, Fri Jul 4, 2014.
MILAN (AP)
Syrian refugee Issam Zarai, 35, spent 30 hours in a packed boat with his wife and two children, 6 and 7, before being rescued at sea.
On his way to Sweden, he had no problem with Italy's lax application of the EU directive.
Every
day, boatloads of refugees arrive on Italian shores.
European Union law requires Italy to fingerprint them, so that if they apply for asylum in another country they can be sent back to their port of entry.
Instead, Italy is letting thousands of migrants slip quietly into northern Europe, with no record of their time in Italy.
European Union law requires Italy to fingerprint them, so that if they apply for asylum in another country they can be sent back to their port of entry.
Instead, Italy is letting thousands of migrants slip quietly into northern Europe, with no record of their time in Italy.
An Associated Press
analysis of EU and Italian data suggests that as many as a quarter of
the migrants who should have been fingerprinted in the first half of the
year were not.
While EU law required Italy to share fingerprints for about 56,700 of the migrants, only 43,382 sets were sent.
While EU law required Italy to share fingerprints for about 56,700 of the migrants, only 43,382 sets were sent.
Even
accounting for possible delays in sending fingerprints to Brussels,
it's clear that thousands of refugees are slipping through the cracks.
"It's
a very serious problem,"
European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter this week.
After complaints from member states, the European Commission is studying whether Italy is living up to its EU obligations.
The Italian government didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.
European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter this week.
After complaints from member states, the European Commission is studying whether Italy is living up to its EU obligations.
The Italian government didn't respond to repeated requests for comment.
EU
countries are angry that they can't send migrants back to their first
port of entry when there is no record of where that was. Human rights
officials also worry that the refugees can't benefit from U.N.
protections for refugees if they don't officially exist.
Italy,
by not fingerprinting migrants, avoids the possibility that they'll be
sent back.
It is already spending 9.5 million euros ($13 million) a month to rescue thousands of migrants making the perilous crossing from North Africa aboard smugglers' boats in an operation launched after 360 migrants drowned off Sicily last year, and feels it's doing more than its share already.
It is already spending 9.5 million euros ($13 million) a month to rescue thousands of migrants making the perilous crossing from North Africa aboard smugglers' boats in an operation launched after 360 migrants drowned off Sicily last year, and feels it's doing more than its share already.
The
refugees themselves are happy not to be fingerprinted.
With unemployment at 12.6 percent and youth unemployment at 43 percent, new arrivals have little interest in staying in Italy, and would rather settle in northern Europe where there are better job opportunities and more established refugee communities.
With unemployment at 12.6 percent and youth unemployment at 43 percent, new arrivals have little interest in staying in Italy, and would rather settle in northern Europe where there are better job opportunities and more established refugee communities.
Aided
by Rome's blind eye, Syrian migrants in particular are falling off
Italy's radar, making their way to Milan's central train station in
groups of 100 or more.
They are met by railway police, aid workers and city officials who offer food, a bed and — for those who ask — advice on asylum.
They are met by railway police, aid workers and city officials who offer food, a bed and — for those who ask — advice on asylum.
Of
the 10,500 who arrived in Milan since October, only eight requested
asylum in Italy, city officials said. Many others, after a few hours or
days in Milan, headed north with no record of ever having set foot in
Italy.
"No Syrian wants to get fingerprinted,"
said Shadi Howara, a doctor from Damascus passing through Milan.
said Shadi Howara, a doctor from Damascus passing through Milan.
The
Italian Interior Ministry reported 60,435 migrants arrived by boat in
Italy this year through June 30.
A number of those are accompanied children who by EU rules shouldn't be fingerprinted; Save the Children estimates there were 3,700.
During the same time period, the EU said Italy shared 43,382 sets of fingerprints.
A number of those are accompanied children who by EU rules shouldn't be fingerprinted; Save the Children estimates there were 3,700.
During the same time period, the EU said Italy shared 43,382 sets of fingerprints.
As
more Syrians began to arrive and officials spotted children sprawled
out on stone benches, the city of Milan set up a welcome desk in the
train station in October, according to the city's top immigration
official, Pierfrancesco Majorino.
The
welcome desk, a table on the mezzanine of the cavernous station, sits
behind yellow plastic barriers marked
"Syrian Emergency."
"Syrian Emergency."
The
scene is surreal:
As a nearby escalator ferries fashionable commuters to and from work in Italy's financial capital, Syrian war refugees mill about in donated clothes and little more than a plastic bag's worth of belongings, waiting for the next train north.
As a nearby escalator ferries fashionable commuters to and from work in Italy's financial capital, Syrian war refugees mill about in donated clothes and little more than a plastic bag's worth of belongings, waiting for the next train north.
Why haven't they been fingerprinted?
"You
have to ask the Interior Ministry,"
Majorino said, adding that only law enforcement agencies — not city workers — are authorized to carry out the task.
Majorino said, adding that only law enforcement agencies — not city workers — are authorized to carry out the task.
The Interior Ministry declined repeated requests for comment on Italy's application of the EU fingerprinting directive.
Syrian refugee Issam Zarai, 35, spent 30 hours in a packed boat with his wife and two children, 6 and 7, before being rescued at sea.
On his way to Sweden, he had no problem with Italy's lax application of the EU directive.
"They took no fingerprints," he said, "and no names."
___
Associated Press writers Kavitha Surana and Nicole Winfield contributed from Rome.
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